The attack on Hyperliquid failed: the CZ-linked exchange Aster lost 4 times more than the victim.
Competition between the two largest decentralized derivatives exchanges has escalated into open conflict. A trading address, allegedly funded through the Aster platform, attempted to artificially crash the liquidity of its direct competitor, Hyperliquid. However, the calculation proved incorrect, and the attacker incurred losses four times greater than those of the targeted platform.
Chronicle of a Failed Manipulation
The attempted attack was recorded by analysts on June 16. According to blockchain analysis data, the attacking address belonged to a group of wallets that had withdrawn $2.3 million from Aster a week earlier. Approximately 20 hours before the incident, this wallet transferred $635,000 to Hyperliquid. Immediately after, the trader began aggressively opening a long position on the Fartcoin token.
The attackers' plan was classic: accumulate about 20% of the open interest in a low-liquidity asset, artificially drive up the price through spot market purchases, trigger the protective liquidation of large positions, forcibly transfer these positions to the HLP liquidity pool, and then massively dump the tokens, leaving the pool with huge losses.
However, this time the strategy failed from the very start. After four hours of continuous buying, the attacker's wallet was fully liquidated before it could initiate the price surge. As a result, the attack organizer lost $540,000, while the HLP pool's loss amounted to only about $130,000. Later, well-known trader MartyParty confirmed that the attack originated from the Aster exchange.
Context of the Aster and Hyperliquid Rivalry
The Aster platform is a multi-chain DEX without mandatory user verification. The project was created through the merger of Astherus and APX Finance, with support from YZi Labs. The exchange offers clients enormous leverage of up to 1000x. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) has openly called this project Hyperliquid's main competitor, leading to repeated accusations of attacks on the platform via Aster.
Expert opinion: This attack is a vivid example of how aggressive competition in the DeFi market can backfire. The attempt to use a classic low-liquidity asset manipulation scheme failed due to insufficient market depth and the effective operation of Hyperliquid's liquidation mechanisms. Instead of striking a blow against a competitor, the attackers only confirmed the platform's resilience and demonstrated their own vulnerabilities. This incident will serve as a serious warning to all market participants attempting to play outside the rules.